The present invention relates to footwear and in particular to footwear having a sole construction in which the upper surface of the sole, when in normal use, is lower at the heel bed than at the foresole portion of the sole construction.
For some time shoe or footwear soles having a construction in which the fore portion of the sole is higher than the heel portion of the sole, have been promoted as having certain physical and orthopedic advantages. Footwear made with such lower heel beds require a person using such soles lean slightly forward for proper balance. When the heel bed is lower than the foresole, there is a tendency of the foot to slide rearwardly towards the heel. Accordingly, there is a need to provide this type of sole structure with means for properly cradling the foot on the sole for normal and comfortable use.
Previous attempts to provide soles in which the heel has a negative cant in respect to the foresole have been disclosed. These earlier efforts to provide a structure of this type have concerned themselves primarily with the inclination of the sole and have not been particularly concerned with properly nesting the foot.
The present invention is directed to a shoe construction having a shoe sole in which the upper surface of the sole is canted downwardly from the foresole to the heel bed when the sole bottom rests on a level surface. This construction in combination with means providing a foot cradle extending substantially upwardly around the heel at the rear counter assures the wearer his foot is properly cradled and undesired rearward movement of the foot relative to the sole when the footwear is in use is prevented.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a shoe sole having an upper surface in which the surface of the sole at the heel is normally lower than the surface of the sole at the foresole and the instep region. In this arrangement the upper surface of the sole is essentially canted rearwardly and downwardly. The sole is further provided with a peripheral edge that extends upwardly over the upper surface around at least a substantial portion of its periphery and in particular, at the rear counter where the upper periphery of the rear counter extends substantially higher than the lower most portion of the upper surface in the heel region of the sole.